Efforts to ensure transparency in how US states utilise opioid settlement funds are intensifying, with advocates like Toni Torsch at the forefront. After losing her son Dan to an overdose in 2010, Torsch co-founded the Daniel Carl Torsch Foundation and now campaigns for accountability in fund spending to support families impacted by addiction.

Maryland, her home state, is among 12 states that pledged greater transparency in their opioid settlement spending. Idaho, for instance, provides public access to 91 documents on fund allocations via the state attorney general’s website.

“I don’t think it’s a high bar to let the public see at some reasonable level of granularity where their money is going,” says Corey Davis, a project director at the Network for Public Health Law.

Advocates argue that clear accountability is critical to ensuring these funds are effectively used to combat the addiction crisis and support those affected.

Source: Union Leader